of Dice and Dragons

The last two issues of Role-playing Tips are now online - Scenario and Campaign Arc Building Tips, Part 1 & 2.

This two part series which ran over the last couple of weeks were posted together today which is a nice surprise. The two issues start with the individual elements of your scenario or campaign and then continue on with how to assemble them, there’s some really good information in these issues.

There are also numerous reader tips included in both issues.

Enjoy!

Issue #345
Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. Start With A Scenario Idea
2. Twist The Tale
3. The Stimulator, The Foil, The Detective, and The Driver
4. Revelations Occur One Step At A Time
5. Every PC Should Contribute
6. NPC Reactions
7. Roadblocks Are Inevitable
8. Every Problem Has A Solution

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Use D&D Collectible Mini Pics For Tokens
2. Tips For GMing With Fantasy Grounds
3. Use FreeMind For SRD Import
4. Gritty Fantasy With The Black Company RPG
5. Campaign Ideas Survey Example

You can read it online here.

Issue #346
Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> Readers Tips Request

–> This Week’s Tips:
9. Compiling the Plotline
10. Review The Plotline
11. Patch The Holes
12. Draft Key Speeches
13. Prepare Key Notes
14. Hint, Background Development, Subplot, And Plot: Creating Story Arcs
15. Campaign Construction

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Creating A Session Summary And Prep Notes
2. Modern Apartment Building Floorplans
3. Players In World Creation

–> Links Of The Week
1. Online Esoteric Library
2. D&D Grant Money For New Clubs
3. GameWyrd

You can read it online here.

If you don’t already subscribe I would recommend it, you can do that here.

May your dice roll well.

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How many loose pages do you have stored in the front of your role-playing books? If you’re like me you probably have more than a couple, so here’s a great tip to keep them all together - cover the book.

When I was going through elementary school we always had to cover our school books when they were given to us at the beginning of the school year. I can remember sitting at the table with my parents cutting and taping brown paper bags to cover those books and the best part is that the flap on either cover could double as a folder for those loose papers.

So you can a bit of organization/storage and help protect your role-playing books from all the perils of gaming (salt, grease and of course soda).

For those that aren’t familiar with how to cover your books here’s a link http://www.ehow.com/how_8583_make-paper-book.html

May your dice roll well.

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In honor of Valentine’s Day I present Encounter Idea #27 - The Wedding Party.

For most groups just a basic wedding will cause no end to role-playing encounters. If you have been to wedding I’m sure you can remember all the small talk and the endless stream of folks you meet (even if you’re not in the wedding party). Of course you can play up the stereo-types should you choose:

• The bride - very nervous, worrying about everything and is constantly telling her mother to “stop it!”
• The groom - a bit nervous and whose temper flares quickly as he’s a bit stressed
• The father of the bride - complains non-stop about how much this is all costing him
• The mother of the bride - is either crying about losing her baby or fussing over something
• The parents of the groom - happy and enjoying themselves, most likely because they’re running up the bar tab which is being covered by the father of the bride

Of course that’s just the start of it as most families invite nearly everyone in the family tree whether they’ve seen them recently or not. So feel free to play up those interactions as well which could include sibling rivalries and of course the unwanted relative.

Be sure to also take a look at ways take this up another notch. Things like jealous ex-boyfriends or girl-friends, the disapproving relative or even an inter-racial marriage (elf and human for instance?).

Got an idea about how a wedding party could be used? Why not post it and share.

Be sure to check out these additional encounter ideas

May your dice roll well.

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I’m sure there are few folks out there like me that every once in a while gets stuck coming up with a dungeon layout or is in need of putting one together fairly quickly.

To help us out Jamis Buck has put up an online dungeon generator which you can check out at http://www.aarg.net/~minam/dungeon.cgi.

At the site you can choose from a number of different parameters including the dungeon level and the site will create the map for you along with room descriptions, treasure and the monsters in the various rooms (you’ll have to look up the stats). Being able to put together a dungeon level with just a few clicks is a great thing to have in your “back pocket” should the occasion arise.

There is a MS Windows offline version available for download and it works in the same manner as the online version with addition - you can save the dungeons you create. The export feature saves the dungeon map as a .png and the descriptive text in a .rft file.

May your dice roll well.

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The latest issue of Role-playing Tips is now online - Holiday Adventures - Entries From The Holiday Contest.

You may remember a couple of months back that Johnn ran a contest in which he was requesting holidays and holiday encounters, in this issue he shares some of those entries.

You’ll also want to check out the Links section as there’s a fun brainstorming tool you can use online.

Enjoy!

Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. St. Karik’s Day of Humbling
2. Leafgather
3. Winter Solstice
4. Epiphany
5. The Drowning
6. Annunciation
7. Prayer for Prey
8. Hay Day
9. Judgement Day
10. Cookmas
11. Hobbitsgiving
12. Rites of Fecundity
13. Despicable Dwarf Round-Up Day
14. Harvest of the Seven Moons
15. The Widowmaker’s Hunt

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. SRD Import Into MyInfo
From: Johnn Four
2. The Staff of a Castle
From: John Eikenberry
3. Cool Places To Hide Things
From: Bill Honchell

–> Links Of The Week

You can read it online here.

If you don’t already subscribe I would recommend it, you can do that here.

May your dice roll well.

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